A. Upon receipt of the county clerk's certification and the petition and, in the case of a special hospital district composed of all or portions of two or more counties, the notification provided for in Section 4-48A-4 NMSA 1978, the board of county commissioners shall issue a proclamation calling for an election to be held not less than sixty nor more than one hundred twenty days from the date of receipt of the county clerk's certification and the petition. The election shall be for the purpose of determining whether such hospital district shall be created and for the selection of members of the board of trustees.

B. Persons desiring to be a candidate in an election for a position on the board of trustees shall file a declaration of candidacy for one of the positions on the board of trustees with the county clerk not later than 5:00 p.m. on the thirtieth day after the issuance of the proclamation by the board of county commissioners. The declaration of candidacy shall be an affidavit as to the qualifications required by law of the declarant for such office. The declaration of candidacy shall be on a form prescribed and furnished by the county clerk.

C. Only qualified electors who reside in the territory of the proposed special hospital district shall vote in such election, and in the case of a special hospital district composed of all or portions of more than one county, only qualified electors who reside in the subdistricts shall vote in such election. In the case of a proposed district wholly within a county and divided into single-member districts, only qualified electors who reside in the territory of the single-member district shall vote on the candidates for trustee from that single-member district.

D. The proclamation of the election shall be published by the county clerk once each week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the territory of the proposed special hospital district or subdistrict, the last of such notice being published not more than one week from the date of the election.

E. The election shall be conducted, counted and canvassed in substantially the same manner as general elections are conducted, counted and canvassed in that county.

F. In the event a majority of the qualified electors of the proposed special hospital district voting in the election votes in favor of creating the special hospital district, or in the event a majority of the qualified electors who reside in each subdistrict of a special hospital district composed of all or a portion of two or more counties voting in the election votes in favor of creating a special hospital district, and upon certification of that fact by the county canvassing board or boards, the board of county commissioners of each county shall by resolution declare the district to be created and that each of those candidates for a position on the board of trustees who received the vote of a majority of the qualified electors voting on such positions shall be certified as elected.

G. In the event a majority of the qualified electors of a county voting on the question rejects the creation of the special hospital district, such question shall not again be submitted in the county for a period of two years. In the case of a special hospital district composed of all or a portion of two or more counties, if a majority of the qualified electors of any subdistrict voting on the question rejects the creation of the special hospital district, such question shall not again be submitted in the subdistrict or any part thereof for a period of two years.

H. The expenses of calling and conducting the election shall be borne by each county in which an election is held; provided, if the election results in the creation of a special hospital district, such special hospital district shall reimburse each county for all expenditures made in the course of calling and conducting the election.

History: 1978 Comp., § 4-48A-5, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 29, § 5; 1981, ch. 84, § 4; 1990, ch. 12, § 2.

Constitutionality. — The Special Hospital District Act does not unconstitutionally delegate legislative authority. State ex rel. Angel Fire Home & Land Owners Ass'n, Inc. v. South Cent. Colfax Cnty. Special Hosp. Dist., 1990-NMCA-072, 110 N.M. 496, 797 P.2d 285, cert. denied, 110 N.M. 330, 795 P.2d 1022.